Introduction
Printed circuit boards (PCBs) are typically used in the development of electronic equipment. The PCB consists of a vast number of different components that can be passive or active, and these components are connected from side to side with traces on the board. It is very easy to develop large circuits on small printed circuit boards because there are so many small size electronic components available for this purpose. Let’s take a look at the advantages of using PCBs, so we can better understand them.
What is PCB?
PCB stands for the printed circuit board. This board is a very vital part of modern electronic equipment. Printed circuit boards consist of a huge number of passive as well as active components required.
Do you know why almost all PCBs are Green? Check this Out!
DIY Projects and PCBs
DIY projects are the ones that can be implemented with limited resources and time. People usually prefer making small things like toys, mobiles, etc at their home or workplace. DIY Electronics projects are very popular among makers, hobbyists, and students. These projects require less time to design but need a lot of attention to detail.
Arduino is an open-source platform that consists of a single-board microcontroller. It is very easy to use Arduino for the development of electronic projects because it has an inbuilt USB connectivity feature, which helps us to program or upload code directly from our computer.
Arduino is popular among makers, hobbyists, and students because it is very easy to use. A large number of Arduino boards like Arduino Uno, Nano are available in the market for electronic projects development at a low cost.
PCBs are more beneficial than Breadboards for several reasons. They provide a number of advantages over breadboard circuits, some key advantages being their lower cost, higher reliability, and smaller size. These features make them easy to use in various applications using electronic components or devices on a large scale.
The Advantages of using PCBs for your Hobby Projects
There are many advantages associated with the printed circuit boards that make them preferable over other methods used for making circuits using Breadboards.
High Accuracy
Using breadboards can be highly inaccurate because connections are not permanent until they are soldered onto the PCBs or Breadboard. Before placing each component into its respective place, we have to check and ensure the connections. But in PCBs, components can be easily fixed into their places without much effort since each component has a dedicated place with an optional silkscreen label.
Easily portable
PCBs are highly portable because they can easily fit inside a small case or box for carrying them from one place to another.
Size
The size of the printed circuit boards is very small when compared to the breadboard version. So it can be used to make compact circuits. Additionally, there are a lot of electronic components available in compact sizes that easily fit on this board without wasting any space.
Low Electronic Noise
Electronic noise is a disturbance caused to the desired signal while it’s transmission or reception. Electronic noise is created when unwanted signals are generated from the source or any other parts of the circuit.
Breadboard circuits are good for learning and development purposes but they create an electronic noise. This disturbance in the signal is caused due to electromagnetic radiation or capacitive coupling from other nearby circuit elements, power supply wires, loose connections, etc.
One advantage of printed circuit boards over breadboards is that it reduces electronic noises in circuits, which makes them more reliable. This further enhances the performance and quality of devices containing PCBs because there are no unnecessary fluctuations or surges to disturb the signals in the circuit.
The low electronic noise level in PCBs helps us get rid of unwanted disturbances from our signals. This makes sure that we are able to receive clear and noise-free signals.
Low Price
PCBs have a low cost, mass production can be achieved at a lower cost. That’s why PCBs are used for creating electronic devices on a large scale.
Easily Manufactured
PCBs can be manufactured very easily and quickly once there is the right set of tools and machines. They are made up of a thin sheet of fiberglass-epoxy laminate which is coated on both sides with copper foil.
PCB manufacturing process is very simple and does not require much time. It takes only a few minutes/hours to expose the circuit image onto photographic film, which we can use as a mask to etch printed circuits.
PCBs are easily available in the market for buying at a low price as compared to breadboard circuits. So they provide an economical solution to our problems of making electronic projects quickly and easily on a large scale economically.
Reliability
In breadboards, there are many loose components that need reconnection every time during testing and sometimes, they have to be replaced due to any damage caused during testing. But in the case of using Printed Circuit Boards, all components can easily fit into their respective places on the board without wasting any space like Breadboard versions. Once soldered, they are gonna be there so you don’t have to worry about loose connections at all.
Time Saving
Using breadboards consumes more time in the development of small projects because it needs to solder all components manually and also check each connection before placing it into its respective place. On the other hand, a printed circuit board is very quick to assemble and it only takes less than an hour even for developing complex circuits with hundreds of components.
Easy PCB Designing
There is advanced and user-friendly software available to design your PCBs, like Altium. It can be used for designing different types of boards with almost similar functions. These advanced software applications will help us draw the circuit schematic diagram, we can select various components from a large database and place them on our board according to their respective positions in the circuit. We also have the option of creating custom parts or footprints from scratch.
Summarising the Advantages of PCBs
PCBs are more reliable than Breadboards for several reasons.
- The components are soldered directly on the board, which makes them durable and less prone to damage or malfunctioning.
- Components can be easily replaced using a soldering iron if they get damaged due to overheating or mishandling while soldering these boards. This way you don’t have to spend money again and again on the same board.
- PCBs are smaller in size as compared to Breadboards, which makes it easy for engineers or professionals to carry them wherever they go.
- PCBs can be used for the development of large circuits since they have a huge number of connection pins available on them. This saves you from using many Breadboards at once.
- PCBs can be used for prototyping as well as permanent circuits. They make it easy to produce many copies of the same design at a lower cost and in less time.
PCBs have a lot of advantages over breadboards that make them better for our projects. For example, they’re cheaper and easier to manufacture which saves us time and money in the long run. Furthermore, they can be used for prototyping as well as permanent circuits since there are different types of PCBs available on the market with varying specifications according to your requirements. Additionally, these boards fit inside a small case or box easily so you don’t have to worry about carrying them from one place to another.
Conclusion
PCBs are more beneficial than Breadboards for several reasons. They provide a number of advantages over breadboard circuits, some key advantages being their lower cost, higher reliability, and smaller size. These features make them easy to use in various applications using electronic components or devices on a large scale.
In short, using PCBs has been made much simpler than using Breadboard by reducing electronic noise levels in circuits making sure we get clear signals without any disturbances due to high-frequency electromagnetic radiation or capacitive coupling between internal circuit elements.
A PCB can be used as the outer covering of an electronic device containing many components which need to be connected with each other without any loose connections between them. This way it becomes easier to develop complex projects because you don’t have to solder all the parts manually on small boards every time you want to create something new!
That’s why most hobbyists prefer using printed circuit boards instead of breadboards while creating new products like smartphones, computers, electrical appliances, etc.
What’s Next? We hope you enjoyed reading our article on the advantages of PCBs. If you’re interested in designing your own printed circuit boards, head to our PCB designer section.
